Five people escaped without injuries when a raging fire consumed a home and damaged another in Campbell River.
Multiple calls came in around 8 p.m. reporting a structure fire at a home on Leed Road.
When fire crews arrived they found a fully involved blaze that had spread to a neighbouring home.
"The fire was quite heavily involved. It got up into some of the standing timber here as well, so we had some trees candling," said Campbell River Fire Chief Thomas Doherty. "It was a defensive fire attack right off the bat."
Four people inside the home that was fully involved managed to escape unharmed. A person from the neighbouring home where the fire spread also made it out safely.
"They heard some noises and looked out and outside was fully involved in the one area of the home," said Doherty. "They were very fortunate to get out. The house went up very, very quickly."
Firefighters extinguished the blaze but the home was destroyed, while the neighbouring residence sustained "significant damage," Doherty said.
Traffic caused minor headaches for fire crews heading to the scene. Doherty said a large column of smoke was visible in the sky, and it attracted many living in the area to try to get a closer look.
"I was the first to arrive on scene and traffic was a little bit of a hindrance," he said. "There were a lot of people coming to look to see. You could see the column of smoke from a number of blocks away, so there was a little bit of traffic congestion in the area."
Some neighbours like Jan Peachey called 911 as soon as they saw the flames.
"We could hear 'pop pop pop,' it sounded like fireworks, and then looked up the street and there were flames shooting up," said Peachey.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
